It is that time of the year again!! Winter is finally here and this means double protection for our skin.

Cold weather is definitely the number one enemy for our skin and everyone needs to take extra care of their skin and make sure that it is constantly moisturized.

We all have different skin types and our skin reacts differently to every season. I have realized that my skin dries up quickly during winter whereas other people experience this during summer due to the excess heat. As much as we read about dehydrating our skin by drinking plenty of water, we cannot just rely on water and ditch using a good moisturizers.

A lot of people do not realize the importance of moisturizing their skin till they reach the ages of 30-35 when the skin starts to react to everything that they have been doing in their 20s. The skin can survive dryness, free radicals and harsh products while we are still in our 20s but once we head towards the 30s hell breaks loose. It is therefore crucial that we feed our skin with the “good” stuff.

A lot of people never really care about moisturizing their skin but here is a quick question? Why is it that we often feel the need to moisturize our lips and hands multiple times a day? yet we do not find it important to do it twice a day for the rest of the body?

The most important thing that you can ever do for your skin is to use a good moisturizer, whether you have dry, sensitive or oily skin, every type of skin needs to be moisturized. Every article on skin care always emphasis this and it is great to adopt a good skin care regime as early as we can. Here are some of the tips to help you combat dry skin during winter 🙂

What can I use to hydrate/moisturize my skin and why?

Essential oils – they are packed with antioxidants, they help with skin elasticity, protects skin from sun damage, they minimize enlarged pores and reduces wrinkles.

Water – this is the most natural way to hydrate your skin and make it look more healthy and glowing.

Shea butter (refined or unrefined) – shea butter is the healer of every skin problem, it is 100% natural and you can use it from head to toe. It can be mixed with essential oils for deep moisturizing.

Vitamin C Facial serum – this is best for people who are following an anti-aging regime, serums are excellent for increasing skin elasticity. It also helps with collagen production which makes your skin to look more nourished.

Any moisturizer that has good essential oils – any moisturizer that has essential oils is also highly recommended.

Sun screen – this is good for people who do not want to use any oil based moisturizer on their skin.

Glycerin – it locks natural skin moisture and helps the skin to glow

Moisturizing also helps the skin to repair itself quicker especially if you are getting rid of dark spots, acne or uneven skin tone. Another thing that I have experienced over the years is that the use of vanishing creams strips off the skins natural oil this causes the skin to over produce oil, clogs pores and this leads to acne.

Misconception: A lot of people associate acne with oily skin which is not always the case. People with dry skin who are acne prone produce more oil than those with oily skin because the skin is always on survival mode to rescue itself form the dryness by producing more oil and this causes acne breakouts.

Ditch chapped and dry skin this winter for a more glowing beautiful skin 🙂

I have been so busy for the past two weeks trying to be a productive student, my sleeping pattern is so messed up, but things are a bit settled! Well, at least for the next 3 days.

Anyway, just recently, I was talking to a friend about people who always strive in finding the negative in the most positive things that a person can do and how that creates fear and stopping people from doing what can bring them contentment.

That made me realize that a lot of people still bow down to other peoples opinions on their lives and are still concerned with “What will people say” ?

How many times have you had people dictating every little thing you do with your life? I sometimes wonder if those kind of people have time to actually live their own lives.

Over the years I have mastered the art of dismissing derogatory remarks from condescending people. It can get so annoying when people feel the need to question every move you make and always try to give an opinion on how and how you should do things. Such people can lead you astray if you are not firm on how you want to live your life.

A lot of people really fail to stand firm with the decisions they make or plans they want to achieve because they get swiped by stereotyped people instilling their own kind of notions in them. One thing for sure is that “You are your own kind and no matter what you decide to do with your life, you do not owe anyone an explanation towards that“.

It buffles me how much people are afraid to dream and how they let others limit their abilities. I constantly witness people tapping out on what could bring fulfilment in their lives because they want to avoid “the talkers“.

Life is too short to be living a life that needs to be approved by somebody else.

Everyone has come to this life for a different purpose and we all find fulfillment from different things, we are built to have different desires therefore do not be afraid to step out and pursue what makes you happy even if it is out of your comfort zone.

People will always have a say whether you are doing bad or good, I cannot count how many times people made me feel stupid for pursuing my masters degree “I get this all the time”, and I have had “good” people scrutinizing me for doing pageants simply because you get to wear a bikini publicly. This goes to show that you can never win everyone, people can judge you for simply “breathing” clean air.

Realize that you will always have people plugging onto you an wiggle like tails.

Never fail to stand firm on your dreams, Never stop to pursue your own kind of contentment and Never feel the need to fit in with the norm.

Realize the power that is invested within you and become deaf towards those who question your way of living and choices you make. Judgments are and will always be there and that should be another thing to use to keep you firm and going.

This life is for you to live and to fulfill your purpose, strive to satisfy yourself and stand firm in achieving your dreams.

As most of you know, I am a University student, I have had my fair share of experiencing the work environment for a few years and having to switch back to the student lifestyle was a bit of a glitch in terms of financing myself. I had to find ways of earning extra money to survive and buy stuff for myself 🙂

I know there are a lot of young people or students who are thinking of ways to earn extra income, so I thought of sharing a few tips on how you can achieve that 🙂

There are so many things that one can do to earn extra income but not all jobs would fit ones schedule, so here is a list of jobs that are fairly suitable for students or someone who already has a job but needs an extra bit of cash:

Weekend retail assistant/ Cashier

Brand Promotions

Events runner

Products distributor

Weekend retail assistant/Cashier

One can work in a retail store on weekends or during the week to relieve permanent staff members. This kind of job requires one to be flexible every weekend during the period given on the contract. I highly recommend retail stores in developed shopping centers / malls because one can be guaranteed to earn higher pay rates than normal. Most stores pay on an hourly basis and pay rates may double during public holidays. Rates may differ from R20 to R40 per hour or more.

*Tip 2 – Sending a short and clear CV/resume with an attractive image of yourself to as many retail stores as you can may increase your chances of getting the job.

Brand promotions

This is by far the most rewarding job for students, brand promotions includes handing out free samples/ pamphlets in stores, telling customers more about the brand or selling new products. Promotional jobs take place throughout the year and as a student you can also look for promotional jobs that are related to your career field. As a Biotechnology student, I have done pharmaceutical promotional jobs, it is much more easier and fun to be familiar with the jargon when promoting a product.

Promotional jobs rates are quite rewarding, rates are roughly from R50 to R150 per hour depending of the brand and some companies may pay up to R1000 a day.

*Tips 1 – Join as many “promotional agencies” social media groups or get in touch with recruiting companies.

*Tips 2 – Job offers get a lot of applicants, and sadly recruiters are usually looking for specific physical look therefore a good professional picture of yourself may just get you the job.

Events runner

This is one of the best part time jobs I have ever done, you literally get paid to have fun. Fun fare events require a lot of stuff personnel to make them a success and one can earn extra money just by being part of the event. Being an events runner includes, being a cos-player, handing out food packs, face painting, singing/dancing with kids, playing games and decorating play stages. In most cases such jobs pay on a daily basis and one can get roughly R250 to R800 per day.

*Tip 1 – Get in touch with promotional recruiting companies.

Product distributor

This is the most flexible job that is easy to maneuver around ones schedule. This requires one to buy products in bulk so as to sell to clients, in most cases a distributor gets massive discounts when buying products in bulk. To be a product distributor can be daunting at the beginning when you do not have a clientele, but once that sorted, it becomes easier and less stressful. There are a lot of companies that require distributors but I would advise one to look for a niche product in order to speed up ones clientele.

If you are distributing a product in your area where there are 20 other distributors of the same product, you might be a bit slower on profit gains but if you distribute a product where you are 1 of 5 people in an area, you are guaranteed to make good profit.

Profits of this kind of job depend on the number of clients you have, the time you are willing to put in and sometime you may need to put in a bit of cash to get more profits. It is wise to give out free samples to new customers in order to gain more clients, this works well if you are selling cosmetics.

*Tip 1 – Advertise your products on social media and through friends/family. Once you build a good clientele the quality of your relationship with your clients will grow your business.

*Tip 2 – Have a good relationship with your customers.

Part time jobs are also one of the best ways to build your resume and build the best acquaintances ❤

I posted a Facebook photo status about my skin and how it used to be back in 2012/13. I did not say much about it but I got a few comments and inbox messages on what I use to clear out my skin so I decided to write a blog post on my skin regime and the products I use.

Tracking back to my teenage years I never had any problem with my skin, I can actually say that my skin was perfect!! No pimple, no breakout, no hyper pigmentation whatsoever. In 2012 I started to experience acne for the very first time in life, it was devastating and daunting to make it go away. This is a struggle that most people just don’t understand!! Once you have acne, you have to fight it for the rest of your life!!

But in all honesty, mine was really not that bad!! I just had constant breakouts especially on my cheeks. I still break out but once in a while 🙂 Thank God

“Back then I was not really clued up with what my skin needed, I never even read much about skin care”

I tried so many products throughout the year 2012 and nothing worked!! The acne/breakouts carried on to 2013 and still no product worked but what I noticed was that during winter I did not breakout that much but when spring lapped I would start to breakout again.

I started reading on skin and acne treatments and it was when I decided to try natural product and/or products with certain ingredients, sadly at that time I was willing to spend any amount of money as long as I could fix my face 😦

over the past 2/3 years I figured out what works for me, I do switch up products sometimes but I never go far from the brands or similar ingredients.. uhhmmm okay, enough about me!! Lets get to my skincare regime;

Please note! It took me sometime to get the products that work for me, I use different brands which is something that dermatologists do not recommend but these products work well for me 🙂

Step 1

I cleanse my face with (Garnier) Pure Active Daily Pore Scrub Wash – for Oily to Combination Skin. It has salicylic acid which deep cleanse and combats acne. I also use the (Sorbet) rechargeable Facial Cleanser several times a week.

Step 2

I tone my face with (Nivea) Daily Essentials Refreshing Toner – for Normal & Combination Skin. It removes residues from deep within, it also has vitamin E and hydra Q which hydrates the skin.

Step 3

I use (Nivea) Daily Essentials Light moisturizing Day Cream – for Normal & Combination Skin. It is not heavy on my skin, it hydrates and gives my skin a glow. It also contains SPF 15 and it does not clog pores. At night I use the moisturizer together with (Dis-chem) drops of jojoba oil for maximum hydration. It controls acne break outs and softens skin.

Step 4

I wear (Every sun Everyday – sunscreen lotion) daily to protect my skin from UV radiation that can cause hyper pigmentation and constant breakouts. I use SPF 40 on my face. This will make your skin shiny and look oily, I know a lot of people do not like that, I did not either, but I got use to its texture.

Exfoliate

When it comes to exfoliating, I use different products from different brands.

I am still working on my skin as I have mild dark spots on my cheeks and I may switch products as time goes on but for now I am happy with what I am using.

Thank you for reading, I hope this helps someone out there. Please leave a comment below to advise anyone on how they can deal with problematic skin or tell us about your skin regime. To comment please first click on the post, then click the

Do not forget to subscribe ❤

Love Emily.

Disclaimer: This is not a product review post and I am not sponsored by any brand mentioned above.

Believe in yourself MORE…

There were so many occasions in my life where I wanted to give up on myself, not because I was weary, but because I never believed in myself. Those were the times were other people believed in me more than I believed in myself, trusted me more than I trusted myself and saw more in me.

There were nights where I laid down quietly in my bed and fed myself all the negative junk that justified why I should give up on myself but no-matter how far I was on the verge of giving up, there was always that voice within me that will spark a little hope to not give up.

You can have as many people believing in you, but that would not matter, until you believe in yourself, nothing can ever manifest or be achieved!!

Believing in yourself starts with knowing who you are and understanding that you are 100% capable of achieving anything you can ever set your mind to… See, all the books that we buy and read on how we can achieve success, how we can acquire this and that should not really be the first trigger of our realization that we are capable of anything.

We are all born with faith and belief, that makes us fairly the same, but what differentiates one from the other is how far you take your faith and belief. You can make yourself believe that you have belief in yourself and yes! That is the initial step but the most important step is acting towards that belief.

Even though we are surrounded by those who believe in us and those who absolutely don’t, you can be cheered or pulled down but it really does not matter and may not affect us in any way, well, maybe a little bit to give us that push. Still! The real magic lies in doing 🙂

You are capable of anything, you have all the resources you need to acquire everything and no matter how many cheerers you have, you are your most important cheerer.

Don’t just believe in yourself, Put an action towards believing in yourself 🙂

Yet another week coming to an end, this was a tiring and long week for me. I can only say that I deserve a good rest and a perfect treat to have finally survived 🙂

I am sure that a lot of people have had a moment at some point in their lives where they just sit down and ask themselves (why is my life in such chaos?), (when am I getting my breakthrough?), (why do I have to go through this?) well, I am here to tell you that you are not alone, tribulations are part of life and the sooner you STOP and accept that, it is when you put yourself in a better position to deal with life and all the stones that will be thrown at you.

We have created a world where facing troubles can only be escaped through suicide, alcohol, drugs and all the other things. It fazes me so much that as humans, we were born with the instinct to not give up, look at this; a toddler would scream, bang themselves against the wall, kick whatever that is on their way and cry for the longest hours till they get what they want, but as we grow up we tend to lose that ability and kill that instinct.

Why has that happened?

We also tend to throw ourselves miserable pity parties and try to invite as many people as we can so that everyone can join us in our misery. There is nothing that is time wasting as a pity party, they can only drown you and suck every bit of hope you had in you.

No one was ever put on a pedestal and said “Life would be as easy as 1-2-3”, even God Himself never promised a life free of troubles but He promised full supply of strength, steadfastness, endurance, hope and comfort. We do no mercy to ourselves when we keep seeking a trouble free life, the hunt of such a non existent life will do nothing but devastate us.

Remember, each and everyone of us is born with a purpose, it does not matter what kind of faith you have or religion you follow. God has planted a purpose in each and everyone of us, this purpose is so powerful and glorious that the enemy’s job is to kill, steal and destroy it. The moment you are born, is the moment you step into your purpose because you were created to serve a purpose on this earth.

Yes, we cannot live a life where we are as tough as a stallion, we will have moments of breaking down and thinking of giving up but we need to develop the spirit of keeping on. You will be kicked so many times while you are down but always know that there is someone who is going through worse and there is always hope, and that hope is worth fighting for.

In the midst of it all, I am going to be blunt and tell you that (IT IS OKAY NOT TO BE OKAY BECAUSE YOU ARE HUMAN) but “STOP the endless pity parties, stop crying endlessly, get up and lean on God, you can only be made strong by the strength you get from Him.

This the craziest scripture I have ever read during a time when I was hopeless, in the midst of disappointment, depression and devastation. How do you turn your misery into joy? My friend when the enemy does not try to knock you out will all sorts of blows you must get worried, he never wastes his time trying to fight a dead soldier, you are alive and he trembles the moment you open your eyes every morning.

Lean unto God and keep on keeping on.

Psalm 27:1

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

Psalm 138:3

“In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul.”

I hope you enjoyed the post Please do let me know on the comment section below on how did you overcome a tough season in your life and what made you to not give up on life?

I am writing this post on a very quiet night, this moment calls for a cup of coffee but I do not like coffee, coffee can literally keep me up for the longest hours at night and as a person who loves her sleep, I just stay away from coffee…

So, let us talk about a vision board!

I am sure a lot of you have heard of “this idea” at some point in your life but perhaps never really put it into a good thought. I for one have known about vision boards for a very long time and I finally created one of my own this year. What I am about to say will sound peculiar but “A vision board really works wonders”, it has been such a short time since I had mine but it has helped me to take action toward my goals.

so, What is a vision board? “A vision board is simply a display of images and/or quotes that reminds you on a daily basis to focus and take action on the things you want to achieve in your life”

I read a lot on it before making one of my own and I realized that a bold emphasis is being put on the fact that vision boards are difficult to work on due to goals not having to manifest as quickly as one desires, therefore people tend to dismiss everything that they once believed that they will one day achieve.

The excitement that goes into creating a vision board is the same excitement one has at the beginning of the year while setting “new year resolution goals”, you tend to dwell in joy and find a sense of fulfillment with an incredible faith that everything will be achieved one day.

Prior to completing my own vision board I had an affirmation application that I downloaded just after reading the book “The power of your subconscious Mind By Joseph Murphy“. The affirmation application was like any other typical application that had daily phrases that I had to say out loud, whether default or custom affirmation quotes. I got the hang of it and funny enough; my custom quotes were all the things that are now currently on my vision board. The only difference was a shift from words to images.

Why do you need to create a vision board?

Every single person has a vision board stuck in their mind somewhere but with all the things happening in our daily lives that exhaust us physically,emotionally and psychologically,we tend to blur that vision and never really focus on it as we have to. There is a lot going on in our lives and who has time to go to the gym even when you badly want to shed a few kilos? But waking up every single morning to be reminded of the things you want to accomplish really propels one to make time and take action which is the main aim of board.

A few more reasons to make a vision board is that:

We all have tried to keep a list somewhere but ended up stashing inside a book and eventually forgotten about it.

We cannot work on goals that only exists in our heads.

We are all quick to say “I want to…” and comfortable to say ” I will get…: but never ready to “Put action into…”

We are all surrounded by negative people with little minds who are there to belittle our dreams so it is easy to trash our goals due to the negativity we are surrounded by.

The say a vision board is the key to the law of attraction, why not give it a go? you have nothing to lose 🙂

Telling yourself that you want to achieve something is a good idea, keeping that at the back of your mind is totally trashing it away, having friends to remind you of that goal is a little something and they will eventually get tired but looking at that goal every morning and night is sure a fuel to keep you on your toes and take action in attracting what you desire to achieve.

How do you create a vision board?

There really isn’t a proper way to create a vision board,what is very important is to firstly do a deep self introspection and think clearly on what you really want to accomplish.

Identify your strengths and weaknesses and work around them.

Understand your short term goals and long term goals.

Get pictures that depict your goals and paste them on a board/chart ” Be creative”.